The party members continued to ponder. Meanwhile Liam rummaged deeply through his memory. He vaguely recalled that there was a trick to fighting the boss, but in his past like the golem was not considered difficult. Thus, he personally never used it.
Suddenly Watchful Eye let out a low 'hm' attracting everyone's attention. His sharp gaze looked at a large stone plate inlaid in the street. Although it disrupted the pattern no one had seen anything wrong with it so far.
"Did you spot something?"
"I'm not sure. But now that I notice this stone plate again, I recall something from the last fight. If I'm not wrong this plate has moved at some point."
"Hmm. That's not strange, though. Maybe the boss hit it with his skill.", guessed Fortune.
"But the other stones also didn't move. And this plate does look somewhat conspicuous.", responded Silver Blade. While pondering the tank let her eyes wander through the room, suddenly stopping on Liam.
Silver Blade saw the veteran slowly nodding to himself. She raised her eyebrow, asking:
"Mirage, do you have something to say?"
Liam raised his head noticing his friends listening attentively. Thanks to Watchful Eye's discovery he had finally remembered the trick.
"Thanks, Watchful Eye. I just recalled something. There should be a small control room below the stone plate from which we can redirect the water."
"Great! So, we can stop the boss from healing?", asked Balm with a relieved smile.
"Yes."
The party's confidence improved greatly after getting Liam's confirmation. Their worries about the fight were gone with the wind. The only small annoyance was that the stone plate was within the golem's detection range.
Thus, Radiant Shield had to take the lead to engage the fight before they could figure out how to control the pipe system.
Since there was nothing left to discuss the party didn't waste time and began the boss battle.
There was not much change in the early fight. The melee fighters rushed at the boss while the mages started their casts.
Only Silver Blade had a new task. As a tank specialised in magic damage, she couldn't do much in the fight. Thus, it fell on her to open the control room.
While the sounds of swiftly clashing weapons came from behind her back, the young woman hooked her gloved fingers into the gap between the conspicuous plate and other stones making up the street.
One, two, three!
Silver Blade suddenly pulled with all her strength. The plate trembled, moving slightly but it didn't slide over the edge of the other stones.
Silver Blade took a deep breath realizing that this wouldn't be easy. As the CEO of a construction company Silver Blade had seen construction workers moving heavy boulders before. She had even done so herself, albeit symbolically.
But at that time, she was already a martial artist at the third stage and could move most common boulders easily. She never really knew what it was like to push something aside bit by bit.
What material is this thing even made of?
Luckily Silver Blade wasn't someone unable to endure hardship. She continued to pull on the stone plate, causing it to wobble until it's corner finally jumped high enough to land on the neighbouring stones.
From this point on everything was easier. Silver Blade pulled on the plate and revealed a dimly lit hole. A rusty ladder was attached to the wall, leading into the depth. Compared to the fancy cave above, the hole's walls were only rudimentary, carved directly into the mountain.
When Silver Blade was done, she turned back towards the fight just in time to see the boss about to use his skill.
"Careful Silver, the boss... oh, you are done. Took you long enough!"
Cyclone was just about to warn her bestest friend when she noticed that Silver Blade was looking at the boss. Her tone immediately changed, turning cheeky.
Silver Blade stared at Cyclone, retaliating with an evil smile:
"Was I too slow for my lady? Wait, I will cover the hole again so you can try it yourself."
"Sure, go ahead. Although my body might be week with only one point in strength, but my brain is strong! I will easily figure something out! Like... using a lever! Ha!"
"Oh ok, miss super brain. And would what object would you wish to repurpose as a lever?"
Cyclone turned her eyes away from Silver Blade's teasing smile, scanning the room. Soil. A boss. Stone. There was nothing resembling a lever except for...
"Maybe the boss's hammer...", answered Cyclone meekly.
Silver Blade didn't quite understand her. She was just about to ask Cyclone to repeat herself when the mage let out a cry changing the topic:
"Ah, the boss is targeting me! Let's talk about it later!"
Balm's laughter came from the side. She and the other friends watched the two women in amusement while the fight still went on.
The golem had already released his skill once, hitting Radiant Shield with a few bullets, before turning in Cyclone's direction.
Subsequently Silver Blade and Cyclone stopped quarrelling. The mage managed to dodge in time and refrained from looking at her friend afterwards.
Thus, the fight continued in an orderly manner. Soon the golem ended his skill, looking quite exhausted. Finally, it became time to discuss how to deal with the golem's healing.
Silver Blade volunteered to enter the small hole, but Liam estimated that they would need her above ground. Thus, it was Watchful Eye who took on the task.
The monk swiftly unleashed all his skills until his QI had diminished greatly before jumping down. Immediately messages appeared in the party chat.
[Watchful Eye: There is a small room here. Incredibly uncomfortable! Please hurry up!]
Silver Blade was surprised to read this. As her bodyguard it was incredibly rare for Watchful Eye to complain about pretty much anything. Even when she begun to develop an interest in make-up and asked Watchful Eye to be her model, did he silently endure, even indulge her.
[Silver Blade: What's going on? Are you alright?]
[Watchful Eye: Yes, young lady. But this ceiling is too low. Even a dwarf would have to duck...]
The friends fell silent noticing the relief in each other's eyes. Everyone was glad that they hadn't been the one's to take Watchful Eye's place.
[Cyclone: Please hold on. We owe you one!]
Watchful Eye didn't answer but at this moment the boss suddenly raised his hand. The friends instantly knew what was about to happen. Liam quickly instructed Watchful Eye.
[Bleary Mirage: There should be a few wheels down there. You can just turn one at random.]
[Watchful Eye: Understood.]
A small explosion rang through the room. The party members looked at the pipe with tense gazes. Water burst out, splashing wildly through the entire room. The boss began to recover.
[+400!]
But this time the rain ceased after a second thanks to Watchful Eye taking action.
Unfortunately, the situation wasn't over. Watchful Eye couldn't turn off the water, only redirecting it.
The pipe system rumbled as water streamed through it towards one of the integrated vents. A moment later water rained from the vent, serving its original purpose of irrigating the crops.
Compared to earlier where the water reached the whole room it now only fell above a single spot.
The boss remained silent for a moment as if it couldn't comprehend what had happened. Producing a grating noise, it turned its head towards the place where the water fell before moving its heavy body in that direction.
"Shield, Silver, block him!"
The two tanks quickly followed Liam's order, positioning themselves in the boss's path. Raising their shield they formed a sturdy wall. When the boss tried to get past them, they blocked its legs, forcing him to remain in place.
Appearing frustrated the golem swung its hammer, rotating its body wildly to push the tanks away. It was like a tug of war. The boss had to fight for every step. Meanwhile the rest of the party kept attacking.
The boss's HP decreased steadily. Soon, the water ceased to flow, and the golem didn't get to recover.
"Haha! That's the way to go!"
"Keep it up guys!"
"My friends, the path to victory has become clear."
"Soon he will fall!"
The friends cheered happily, their chests brimming with confidence. Without the ability to heal, the boss was not much of a threat.
Although Radiant Shield suffered some damage he could endure with Balm's help.
Yet the boss didn't give up so easily. Its next action was unprecedented. The golem revealed the cannon on his chest while simultaneously bursting another pipe.
"Hey, isn't this using two skills at the same time?! That's cheating!"
Unfortunately, the golem ignored Cyclone's complaint forcing the party to adjust.
They once again redirected the water and blocked the boss's path. But now the party members had to gather in groups of at least three people so the boss wouldn't solely target Radiant Shield and Silver Blade.